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Deer Genetics in a certain hunting area

B

boatman

Guest
After reading the "culling" thread, I wanted to ask if any of you have ever noticed any one certain spot you hunt, producing simialr racks. I have bowhunted the same timber (south Skunk river bottom) for about 8 years now. I have taken many does off this ground along with two mature bucks right on the fringe of scoring 130 not to mention countless smaller bucks with smaller basket racks.

My question is, I have noticed a very similar pattern in antler growth on just about ALL of the bucks. Generally they are all scorable 8 pt bucks with the larger ones having a sticker tine on one brow, and a split main beam on one side only totalling them up to 10pts. OK now, the smaller bucks I have taken ALSO display nearly the same racks just smaller. If they had grown another year, they may have had a sticker tine also. Another thing I notice is the fact that the racks are generally all darker complected racks.

Maybe I am crazy, but could the genetics of all of these bucks be a relation. No these deer are not in a pen either
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Just wondering if anyone else has noticed any certain "pattern" like this in your hunting area?
 
Your not crazy, I noticed in one area that in a 3 mile radious most bucks that had any size to them were between 20-24 spread with tines not exceeding any longer than 6 inches. I've always thought about that too.
 
I've noticed it too, one piece of ground I hunt is about 20,000 acres or so of ground. you can definitely drive to different areas of this place and see different genetics. you can hunt the tall tined no mass bucks or the burly thick points everywhere bucks, or the just clean typicals, some areas hold a high number of nontypical racks while other areas are just basically typical racks, it's kind of cool because when you drive around you can pretty much expect what you are gonna see, or if a hunter bags a buck, it's pretty easy to tell where the buck was from before they even tell yah
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What is really neat is to collect shed antlers from the same area for many years and compair them with bucks taken in that area.

Most mature deer in my area almost always have at least one split G-2.
 
I have also experienced this same situation. I have a staging area that I hunt and for the last 8 years the bucks are all typical 8's. If they make it to 4.5yrs, they appear to score mid 140's. Out of the 8 years of hunting this spot, I have seen two other deer that are not typical 8's (excluding rut-time).

There has to be some kind of correlation with the genes and this particular area.

If you started collecting data over the next years you could probably write a best-seller.

BT

No, you are not crazy
 
LOL Thanks all,
I appreciate the fact that I am not considered crazy
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and that I am not the only one that has noticed this. I just felt it was too coincidental the fact that all of these bucks are pretty close in features. I do see "odd" bucks especially during the rut as I am sure the deer travel up and down the skunk river corridor for miles.

Thanks for the reply's!
Pat
 
I'm not a wildlife biologist, but it would make sense that if a dominant buck controls a particular area for several years, he'll be doing most of the breeding and his offspring would probably carry many of the same genetic traits. That makes it possible, especially with some inbreeding, that the genetics in one area could be tied together for a number of generations.
 
It's eveident here, in my favorite area the bucks all have way above avg. mass and some stickers and kickers for character, I love the bucks I see and sheds I find in that area. Another area about a mile south of home has what I call "boring bucks", they all seem to be your basic 4x4's and 5x5, scoring 120's up to 150 maybe. They all have fairly even racks but no mass, they'd be lucky to get 32" mass. I've only ever seen one real big buck there and it was during the rut, even the sheds I find there are boring. I've got sheds in my basement that I am sure are offspring of a big boy I want this year, everything about them is the same as his sheds, only a smaller version, same mass, same junk, even same coloration, it's a mid 150's set from this year, I doubt it'll be long until he surpasses the old boy for supremacy in that area.
 
Someday I would love the chance to hunt in Canada.Some of the photos I have seen of some of the bucks taken up there are incredible in mass as well as tine length.
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